New & Noteworthy

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Nov. 15, 2018

New this week:

THE ODYSSEY translated by Emily Wilson, read by Claire Danes. (Audible.) Wilson is the first woman to translate Homer’s epic of adventure and yearning for home into English. It’s a version that has been widely praised for its lyricism and use of contemporary idiom, made even more vibrant here through the voice of Danes. HAVE A NICE DAY by Billy Crystal and Quinton Peeples, read by Crystal, Kevin Kline, Annette Bening, Dick Cavett, Darrell Hammond, Rachel Dratch, et al. (Audible.) This live reading of Crystal and Peeples’s new play, performed at New York’s Minetta Lane Theater, captures its dark humor, the story of a fictional president of the United States and his encounter with the angel of death. THE POWER OF LOVE by Bishop Michael Curry, read by the author. (Penguin Audio.) Best known now for delivering a passionate sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Curry, the presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, here offers more thoughts on love and social justice. HOW TO BE ALONE by Lane Moore, read by the author. (Simon & Schuster Audio.) Moore is the former sex and relationships editor for Cosmopolitan and in this memoir she tells of her lonely childhood and teenage years, spent largely without any family, and the struggle to find connection with others. THANKS A THOUSAND by A. J. Jacobs, read by the author. (Simon & Schuster Audio/TED.) The stunt writer returns, this time with a book about his attempt to personally thank every single person involved in producing his morning cup of coffee. This aim sets him on a journey from miners in Minnesota to farmers in Colombia, musing about the benefits of gratitude along the way.

& Noteworthy

In which we ask colleagues at The Times what they’re reading now.

“To my mind, talent was innate: You either had it, or you didn’t; you were brilliant, or you were not. This mindset made writing no less than torturous. Listening to an audiobook version of GRIT by Angela Duckworth changed that. Duckworth’s book is essentially an ode to practice, arguing that far from innate, genius is a result of a combination of passion for your subject and perseverance in your mastery of it. It’s a simple but potentially transformative idea. I played Duckworth’s narration throughout the day, in the shower through waterproof speakers or dodging pedestrians near Herald Square, and it was a balm for my perfectionism. Afterward, I started seeing the message of ‘Grit’ everywhere: It’s the work you need to fall in love with, not the end result. And as the long, sometimes challenging paths trailing my heroes came into view, I felt safer getting on the road behind them.”